A Kiss
by PrettyGothGirl
Summary: RG: Rikku wants something, something simple before Gippal leaves and a few years later Gippal wants the same in return.


**A Kiss**  
_by PrettyGothGirl_

All Disclaimers Apply  
**Summary:** Rikku wants something, something simple before Gippal leaves and a few years later Gippal wants the same in return.  
**Author's Note:** Just a quick short before I head off to another house and another source of internet. Not sure if it will let me log in. Hope it does. But we'll see. The premise I know is not the most original, but I still like it. Love!

"Gippal?"

"Hmmm."

Good, he wasn't paying attention. Rikku licked her lips and clasped her hands in front of her. "Well, I was wondering-"

"Yeah." Gippal didn't even look up from he gun he taking apart. She supposed he was practicing for when he left for the Crusaders.

"-If I could ask a favor?"

"Sure."

"It's not anything big." Her heart pounded.

"Mmmhmm."

"I mean," she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

He nodded.

"It wouldn't be that much trouble."

Gippal wasn't paying the least bit of attention. "Uh huh."

"It couldn't hurt."

He nodded again.

She swallowed. "Would you kiss me?"

"Sure."

She felt the grin split her face and she bit her lip to keep from making any too girly noises.

He stared at his gun and gradually his fingers stopped. He blinked and looked up at her. "Wait, what did I just agree to?"

She felt her plan unraveling. "A- a- a kiss." She whispered, her throat closing. She was never going to be kissed at this rate.

"No." He said flatly and looked back down at his gun.

"B-b-but you said yes." She wrung her hands together.

"I changed my mind." He looked up and rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, it's one of those stupid girly bets to get me to kiss you before I leave."

There were _bets_ going on. "It's not like that. I don't know anything about that."

He snorted. "Yeah right, Rikku." He returned to his work, gorgeous, sexy and so unattainable, especially for her.

She felt the itch of tears in the backs of her eyes. "I- I just wanted a kiss." She flushed and turned away. "I should have known better. You never take me seriously anyway." She kicked at the metal floor with the toe of her boot and her shoulders slumped. "I'm not like them." She heard her voice twist in scorn. She waited for him to say something, anything. He didn't. Her lips trembled and she started to run as tears spilled down her cheeks. She'd only wanted a kiss from _him._

He wasn't the only one leaving Home. She was going too. Off onto a ship where her brother would be the only person even near her age, she wouldn't have opportunities for flirtation and kisses. Not that she'd be doing that anyways unless it was with Gippal. Not that he ever noticed how differently she treated him from the other boys.

She ran out the door of Home and felt the sun hit her eyes. The shouts of the guard didn't penetrate her ears and she ran into the desert, adjusting her gate to account for the shifting sand.

Maybe she shouldn't have tried to trap him. She wanted _him_ to kiss _her_ and not the other way around. That was the way it _should_ be. She'd spent weeks discreetly researching the subject and not that she had any practice but she understood the theory and she wanted to surprise him a little by what she knew. He _only_ had to kiss her for her to be able to show him how she felt.

She felt a hand grab her arm and jerk her to a stop.

"You shouldn't come out so far." Gippal pulled her closer and glared down at her. "Do you want sandworms to eat you?"

She looked at him through a haze of tears and tugged on her arm. "I can handle a sandworm." She tried to pull away.

"First you try to entrap me, then you try to guilt me and then you run away."

She tugged again fruitlessly. "You do that to me all the time."

"Not like this."

"That's not my fault. I've tried but you can't _see. _So, let me go, Gippal. Just, let me go so I can let go." It was only first love. She'd get over it. It might take years but she could do it. She was strong. She met his gaze. "Please."

"No."

"No?"

"I changed my mind."

She forgot everything, all her research, her plans as he leaned down and kissed her. His lips were hot and soft and gentle. He slid a hand around her waist, slipping it under her shirt. He dropped her other hand and cupped her cheek. The kiss invaded her senses, the smell of him, gun oil, leather, the sound of his heavy breathing, the taste of his lips, his jade eye looking into hers. She tingled and her toes curled inside her boots. She wrapped a hand around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair, grabbing his shoulder with her other hand. All the while his mouth covered hers, caressing her lips.

He snaked a foot between hers and knocked them off balance and into the sand. She landed on his lap.

Her lips parted and he slid his tongue between them. His hands bunched the hem of her shirt, sliding his hands over her skin. She moaned. Her fingers skipped down his spine as far as she could reach. Their tongues scraped together and she shifted closer to him.

The ground shuddered.

Their lips parted and she stared at him. She could feel his breath on her damp lips. She licked them and tasted him again. "Is it a sandworm?"

"Uh huh."

She slowly ran her hands down his arms and grabbed one of his hands. She stood up and grinned at him. "Run!"

She sprinted towards home. Gippal laughed and quickly caught up with her. Their feet thrummed on the packed sand. The sandworm roared and they quickly outdistanced it, the walls of Home become larger until they were in their shadow.

She slowed and he caught on quickly before he dragged her anywhere. She smiled up at him panting and blowing her bangs out her eyes. He smirked back. She looked away suddenly feeling awkward. They'd just kissed and it was her first kiss and it'd been wonderful and all but- she felt heat rush to her face.

He grabbed her chin and tilted it back towards him. "I was in the middle of something."

She lowered her eyelashes and felt her heart ache. "I guess you better go back to it." She still couldn't look him in the eye.

"Yeah." He slipped his hand into her hair and pulled her ponytail out. "I think I will." And with that, he kissed her again. She grabbed his shirt and curled her fingers in the fabric and leaned up into the kiss. She wasn't ever going to let go.

* * *

_Two or so years later_

He approached obliquely. She leaned against the bridge and her attention was fully on the group of people across the way. He leaned next to her.

"Rikku."

"Mmm."

He grinned. She was lost in thought or something. He recognized that look on her face. She didn't pay attention properly when she was on a thought path. Good. "I was wondering something."

"Yeah."

"You see. I need a favor."

"Uh huh." She played with the end of her braid. He glanced over at the group. Tidus was chasing Yuna around in circles and a laughing Vidina toddled after them. He tilted his head and shrugged. He didn't quite see what was so fascinating about it. Maybe it was because he didn't think like a girl. He'd let Rikku do that type of thing.

"It's no biggie." He watched her.

She played with the bow on her bikini now. Her eyes were still distant. He couldn't help tracking the motion. If she didn't want him to look, she shouldn't wear so little and then attract attention to it. Shit, how he loved her body. Her curves were just right. He dragged his mind back to what he was trying to do.

"Shouldn't be too much trouble.

"Mmm."

"And I know it doesn't hurt."

She nodded.

"I, sort of, have missed it too. Though we didn't have much of a chance to practice." He turned and trapped her against the wall. "Would you kiss me again?"

She blinked slowly and awareness returned to her eyes. "Wh-what?"

"Or should I just kiss you?" He leaned in closer.

Her eyes widened. He waited, barely daring to breathe. Damn, he had missed her, her eyes, her scent, the feel of her skin. That kiss they'd shared before he'd left. It had been branded into him. It had kept him warm at night and light hearted during the darkest times. Somewhere out there in the world while he was in a hard place was a girl who wanted him and wanted him to kiss her. He couldn't bear it if he thought that had changed. The memory of her kiss, her smiles and her laughter had kept him from being lonely. Over the years that kiss had made her his girl and for safeties sake he'd referred to them in past tense. It helped keep the hurt at bay. It was over, in the past, he would move on and get over it.

But seeing her again, he realized he'd never gotten over it. He just wanted her back to discover the changes, to find those similarities she said she had.

"Why- why do you even have to ask?" She stared at him. "Don't you know? Can't you see?"

He had, he'd hoped. He couldn't be sure. He barely saw her around other men anymore. He couldn't tell if there was a difference. He'd never seen the difference in the first place until she'd asked for a single kiss. After that, it'd been almost impossible to stop seeing, to stop kissing her. "I didn't want to be fooling myself, seeing what I wanted to see."

Her lips trembled. "A kiss didn't make us a couple."

"No." He hung his head and looked at his feet. "That took me needing something to cling to."

"It won't make us a couple."

He looked up at her. "Why not? What if I wanted it to?"

"And for Spira's sake, I have a name."

He laughed. She sounded so put out. "I couldn't let everyone know how much I loved you." He reached down and grabbed her hand. "Not without knowing if you loved me."

She flushed. "I couldn't let you go. We were halfway across the world from each other and other times just miles apart if not feet and I still held on."

"So," he caressed her face with his eyes. "May I kiss you?"

"Will you stop asking and just-"

He swooped down and pressed their lips together. Her lips already parted and willing. She tasted of flavored lip-gloss and everything that was essentially Rikku. He cupped her cheek. The skin was so smooth under his fingers. He skimmed around to the back of her head and buried his fingers under her ponytail and pulled it out. Her hair fell heavy over his arm releasing the scent of shampoo. The beads clacked together. It felt and smelled so good.

Her lips bore on his, tongue sliding out and tasting his bottom lip. She untangled her hand and reached behind her. Her muscles bunched and she levered her body up onto the bridge rail. Their lips barely brushed. She grabbed his shoulders and drew him towards her so he was standing in between her legs.

He was more than willing to comply. He ran his hands along her waist, over her stomach, flat, the bare edges of muscles under the skin. He dipped thumb into her belly button and felt her shudder. Her tongue parted his lips and delved inside. He sucked down on it. She wrapped her fingers into his hair, body arching into him.

This was exactly what he had missed. This well oiled machine that they were. Sure, they had their rough patches and times that they broke down but when things were going right. They just were. They worked together so well. The ends of her hair brushed his fingers as he played along her spine. They thought the same. Moved together.

She raked her nails along the back of his neck.

He closed his eyes and groaned. Shit, that felt so good.

It gradually occurred to him that the only sounds he heard were the meeting and parting of their lips, the lap of the waves below and the cry of the monkeys. His eyes opened.

He pulled back a little and rested his forehead on hers. He rested his hands on her thighs and licked his lips. "Are they watching?"

Her eyes tracked to the side past him and he watched as the color rose from her face down to her chest. It was an interesting phenomenon. "Yeah."

"What do you think we should do?" He lowered his eyelids.

Her hand reached around and fiddled with his earring. She bit her lip. "I don't know. Run? Hide?"

He chuckled. "Haven't we done enough of that?"

"You asked my opinion." She rolled her eyes up and made a face.

"Besides, I hadn't finished yet." He rotated his thumb along her thigh.

She flushed again. "Gippal."

He smirked. "Don't want to let you go. I want to make you my girl. You willing?"

She smiled. He remembered that smile from after their first kiss. "More than willing. I love you, jackass."

"Right, good. I was doing something." He blinked. "Right. This." He captured her lips again and felt her meld her body into his. Let the others watch. Rikku was his girl now. He didn't have to let her go unless _she_ wanted him too.

* * *

_reviews are love, love me?!_


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